Profiled strips of the above-mentioned type are known, for example, from German utility models DE 200 08 555 U1, DE 20 2008 006 986 U1, DE 20 2008 016 217 U1 and from German patent specification DE 10 2011 056 955 B4.
For example, a profiled strip disclosed in German utility model DE 200 08 555 U1 is first connected to a vehicle window pane before the vehicle window pane with the connected profiled strip is mounted on a vehicle. Subsequently, an adjoining component in the form of a cover part is mounted which can be, for example, a water trough cover that is latched to the profiled strip. A water trough cover serves to cover a water trough that collects water running off the vehicle window pane and to drain it in a controlled manner into the engine compartment and underneath the vehicle. The water trough can be part of the car body.
The profile variants known from German utility models DE 20 2008 006 986 U1 and DE 20 2008 016 217 U1 account for a marked reduction in the installation forces required to mount the cover part, as a result of which it is possible to dispense with a support on the car body below the profiled strip.
The water trough cover is normally latched to the profiled strip over the entire profile length, that is to say, essentially over the entire width of the vehicle window pane. The edge design of modern vehicle window panes over the width of the vehicle is characterized by several radii that make a transition from one to the other, whereby, in some cases, the pane is not symmetrical relative to the vertical center plane of the vehicle. For this reason, the profiled strips are usually adapted precisely to the pane contour by means of prebending before they are installed on the edge of the pane. In order to precisely mount the water trough cover on the profiled strip so that it is as free of gaps as possible along the entire width of the pane, the water trough cover has to be aligned quite precisely relative to the profiled strip during the mounting. For this purpose, optical center markings are often placed on the profiled strip as well as on the cover, but although these markings do permit a certain orientation, they do not prevent a misalignment during the mounting.
However, in order for a profiled strip to be mounted simply and reliably, the second connecting area, which has a latching area to accommodate a latching member of the cover part, has to adhere to relatively narrow tolerances. In order to observe these narrow tolerances, even after the profile has been prebent and after the storage and transportation of the panes, which are normally done with the pane standing upright on the profiled strip, International patent application WO 2006/002891 A1 and European patent application EP 2 253 556 A1 propose inserting a transport protection profile (also often referred to as a “keder rail”) into the latching area. Such transport protection profiles are provided as separate parts and they have to be removed from the latching area of the profiled strip before the cover part is mounted and then they have to be disposed of.
In order to avoid the work involved in removing and disposing of the keder rail, German patent specification DE 10 2011 056 955 B4 puts forward a profiled strip that comprises a functional element that can be moved between different functional positions. In a first functional position, the functional element closes off a latching recess and protects it against deformation and contamination; in a second functional position, the functional element opens up the latching recess so that a latching element of the water trough cover can be latched to the latching recess.